Category Archives: Oil Spills

It has happened again; ANOTHER huge oil spill, this time along the California coast, due to a pipeline break.

TV channels are filled with oil and gas advertising – probably exceeded only by healthcare and medication ads. But the oil and gas ads like to spread the message of how great they are and how safe oil drilling, pipelines and the industry overall are.

Those of us with working brain cells know that’s a load of crap. We regularly have big spills and the horrible images of wildlife suffering that go with them. Big Oil only cares in dollar signs. They shed tears for their lost profits.

Reports suggests at least 105,000 gallons of oil spilled along the California coastline. The Big Oil reps tried downplay the numbers initially and at least one clueless individual jumped out of the gate to suggest no animals had been harmed.

Tens of thousands of gallons of sludge spilled along the coastline and these folks didn’t realize animals live in the water or fly into the water. They saw the images and were unable to connect the most simplistic of dots. That is a duuuuhhh moment on a galactic level.

There are elementary-school kids all over the country that could figure out in a minute that oil spilled where animals live will impact animals. How does an oil company hire anyone who is unable to think on this level.

These people have nothing on their minds beyond profit. They can’t help themselves. And they have to downplay the seriousness of ANY spill, because nothing trumps profit.

With all of the evidence that comes with each spill, some politicians are still pushing hard for the Keystone XL Pipeline. On the subject of climate chance, many of the them proclaimed they are not scientists. That is an understatement – also on a galactic scale.

North Carolina – my home state – is close to approving offshore drilling. Politicians will ignore the current images and the same politicians will act as though they are surprised when a spill hits an offshore rig in the Atlantic.

Too many politicians will watch the coverage of spills and the severe impacts and will not care, even a little bit. If their big-money donor who hold the puppet strings don’t want them to respond, they won’t.

That sucking sound you hear is the spinal fluids leaving the backbones of every politician who backs Big Oil.

Could the huge oil spill today into the Yellowstone River be a red flag for the Keystone XL Pipeline? We continue to be told that everything from pipelines to offshore drilling to fracking is safe and sound.

Then we read over and over again about spills and health risks, while the same folks who claimed the operations are safe look around the room and whistle and turn away as if it’s no big deal.

CNN reports the pipeline in Montana burst, sending up to 50,400 gallons of oil into the Yellowstone River and prompting the state’s Governor to declare a state of emergency. Nearby residents are being told to use bottled water for drinking and cooking.

The article also notes that in 2011, a ruptured Exxon Mobil pipeline poured 42,000 gallons of oil into this same river.

But for the deniers, it’s okay. For them, spoiling the drinking water for people and the suffering of wildlife is small price to pay for adding to the back accounts of Big Oil CEOs.

Spill after spill after spill – and we’re supposed to forget it. We’re supposed to blindly turn away and ignore the degradation of the environment, all in the name of corporate profit. For too many, the future for our kids doesn’t matter and the animals don’t matter and our health and welfare just doesn’t matter. It’s all about profit.

One of the common themes from Big Oil and industries that exploit animals are the typical quotes spewed by the insiders when the time comes to defend cases where animals are harmed or die.

After the recent rupture of Exxon’s Pegasus pipeline in Arkansas the company put out a written statement concerning the impact of the estimated 84,000 gallons of crude spilled into the area.

One sentence from the statement read –

“The majority of the impacted wildlife has been reptiles, primarily venomous snakes.”

This obviously is wrong, as the oil cannot pick and choose the animals it swamps – and the quote relates to the live animals found. And of course, the statement is meant as propaganda, as if no one would care if snakes were the primary victims. And what? – Were non-venomous snakes somehow spared?

In the UK, horse racing defenders are taking a page out of the greyhound racing industry. Prior to a horse dying after a Grand National race, a jockey was quoted by the Cambridge News as saying the race horses receive better treatment than “many children.”

Animal Aid reports the horse was the 23rd to die during the Grand National since 2000. In the Fox Hunters’ Chase, several horses reported pulled up or fell, described as being “potentially injured.”

So are “many children” forced to race in events such as this. And would a civilized society allow an event go on where 23 kids died over this same time frame, with many more injured?

The AP reports the delay in Exxon’s response to the 2011 oil spill along the Yellowstone River in Montana made the disaster much worse.

Fish and other wildlife were killed along 70 miles of riverbank and the cleanup lasted for months. Approximately 63,000 gallons of crude poured into the river.

BP covered up the amount of oil gushing into the water during the Gulf Oil Gusher and now we’re finding out what was happening the immediate response to this spill. I’m waiting for the typical anti-environment and pro-greed crowd to try to claim we never have oil spills.

In the vary state synonymous with oil, property owners are fighting back against TransCanada and its Keystone XL Pipeline.

The Associated Press is reporting nearly half of the steel used in the construction of the pipeline is not American-made, the company is not promising to hire local employees and there is no guarantee being offered that that oil being transported to the Gulf will stay in the US. And TransCanada has engaged in land-grabbing in Texas. John Wayne wouldn’t like this and most Texans won’t like this news and most Americans across the map shouldn’t like it.

And certainly everyone with at least an ounce of concern or more for wildlife and the environment don’t want to risk this sort of toxic oil flowing down the length of our country. Texas isn’t and shouldn’t be the only state where this concern is rising to the surface.

So why is it happening at all? – Because GREED is so often backed by some powerful folks. And the local landowners and concerned citizens – who care about the environment, wildlife and property rights – are supposed to shut up and stand aside and bow down to Big Oil.

Even a majority of the US Supreme Court is telling us that our voices – because we don’t hold the power – should carry less weight than the voice of Corporate America. If you’ve got the millions to flood national TV ad time, you can do that too? – Right? … Like the propaganda-filled advertizing we see every half-hour from the likes of BP and Exxon.

These companies certainly have the right to buy ad time. But they don’t have the right to have more power over the political process or over the governmental process than each one of us. In fact, people should have more power than corporations. But what we’re seeing with the Keystone Pipeline and what we saw in the days leading up to and following the BP Gulf Oil Gusher, is part of the process.

Certainly, there are many cases where our best interests take the same path of the best interests of corporations. But WE should come first, especially when corporations are stepping over the line to stomp on our rights to a clean environment and healthy wildlife populations.

We have this from the AP story – “” A 78-year-old great-grandmother, Eleanor Fairchild, whose late husband worked in the oil industry, spent a night in jail after trespassing – along with actress Daryl Hannah of “Splash” fame – on land condemned on her 425-acre farm. “” – So they stole her land and then charged her with trespassing? How can this be?

This should be an illegal warping of the process of eminent domain. But this is another case where members of the US Supreme court have burned a section of the US Constitution.

Sadly, the propaganda has too many people and putting blinders on. That constant parade of look-how-great-we-are oil company ads is giving too many viewers a warm-fuzzy for Big Oil. BP is the hero of the Gulf region and Exxon really, really cares. In the cases of people who fall for this propaganda, I hope no one shows up at their homes promising to resurface their driveways if they give them $10,000 in cash upfront.

The risk of spills from the tar sands oil is great. Ask the people who live around the Kalamazoo River in Michigan in 2010. The cleanup is still ongoing.

On one side, Mitt and Ann Romney continue to defend the act of riding their dog on top of their car – and with their statements of late are only making the news worse. And on the other side, we have President Obama opening up the Atlantic seaboard to oil and gas exploration.

While I feel the country is slowly but surely becoming more compassionate to animals and I hope – more environmentally aware, there is still a long way to go. And much of the lag seems to be with elected officials at the federal and state levels.

Let’s start with President Obama, who has proposed opening up a huge zone along the east coast to oil and gas exploration.

“There will be those who strongly disagree with this decision. But what I want to emphasize is that this announcement is part of a broader strategy that will move us from an economy that runs on fossil fuels and foreign oil to one that relies more on homegrown fuels and clean energy.”

Huuh? What? So move us away from fossil fuels by opening up more of the ocean floor to get more fossil fuels. Sorry Mr. President; you have always seemed to be on the logical side, but you jumped off the oil rig on this one. Maybe some people will come forward to spin this around in some way. But really, it doesn’t make sense.

And what really doesn’t make sense is opening up more areas to deep-water drilling, fresh off the worst man-made environmental disaster in US history – the BP Gulf Oil Gusher. Have Obama and the Republicans forgotten how bad the equipment proved to be and how bad the oversight was and how long it took to cap the gushing well?

This is important stuff. People died on that oil rig. Untold number of animals suffered to an extreme degree and untold numbers died. The Gulf of Mexico is still being negatively impacted, from the wetlands to the Gulf floor. So in response, we’re going to drill more in deep water?

Clearly, the technology and the level of oversight is far from being where it should be. I am a native of the North Carolina coast and until the age of 5 lived across the street from the Atlantic Ocean. I don’t want to see this area spoiled by a spill.

It’s like a county determining that an intersection is the most dangerous, most heavily traveled in the area. So in response, officials decide to divert more traffic to the intersection, without even determining a better road design.

NPR also reports the conservation group Oceana is calling the President’s decision a “wholesale assault” on the oceans.

And then we have the Romneys, who keep trying to defend riding Shamus on the roof of their car on a 12-hour drive to Canada. A Petside post notes Ann Romney is now comparing Shamus’ ride on the roof to riding a roller coaster.

Really? Maybe more like throwing up and being in severe distress from riding on a roller coaster. Oh, that’s what she means. Or no?

The couple still doesn’t seem to understand the severity of this act. They don’t understand why it is illegal to do this. And instead of stepping to the microphone to admit what they did was wrong, they to continue to make light of the story.

We need more candidates and elected officials who are supporters of animal welfare – at every level.

Because blogging about serious topics such as animal cruelty cases, greyhound racing, dog fighting and puppy mills can be all too serious at times, we will meet here on the weekends for Satire Saturdays (and sometimes Sundays). On occasion, we could all use a little lighthearted relief.

Headline: Big Oil CEO defends oil spills

The Story: Oily Wellian, the CEO of Big, Rig & Gig Oil Company stepped before the microphones for a Saturday-afternoon press conference, to defend the proposed Keystone Pipeline and drilling onshore, offshore and anywhere there’s bare spot on the Earth’s surface.

In front of a huge sign with the company slogan, “Where There’s a Drill, Get Out of the Way,” Wellian opened the proceedings with a strong statement.

“Oil is natural and it’s clean and it has gotten a bad wrap for far too long,” Wellian said. “Hell, I shower in 10W-40 three times a weak.”

It didn’t take long for the subject of natural gas fracking to gush from a reporter’s mouth, in particular the health hazards of fracking chemicals.

“Our studies have indicated that fracking fluid is actually great for reducing cholesterol,” Wellian said. “And do you have heartburn? Well, why not fight fire with fire – by downing a flask of fracking fluid before having a smoke.”

A CNMSNFX reporter quickly broke in to challenge Wellian’s claims, asking, “Would you suggest from your opening statement that the Gulf Oil Spill was good for the skin of the animals trapped in the muck? You couldn’t be that uncaring of the animals, could you?”

“I can be as uncaring as the best of them,” Wellian shot back. “But trying to use flattery won’t change how I feel about you media types.

“To answer your question, yes – and we’re trying to get some of the major human cosmetic companies and canine product manufacturers to distribute our skin-care line. One I’m really excited about is X-On Hair Conditioner.”

The press conference ended abruptly when ice crystals began to form on the floor of the auditorium, seconds after Wellian shouted, “I’ll admit oil spills are bad for wildlife and humans when Hell freezes over.”

Shell oil company has confirmed oil has been leaking from one of its oil rigs in the North Sea, but officials won’t say how much has been leaking. I wonder why?

The Guardian out of the UK quotes a Shell spokesman as saying “we are managing an oil leak.” Where have we heard all this before? Where did the amount of a leak come into question and when did we recently recently read quotes from another oil company about how well they were managing leak?